Eastern States 20 miler

I had initially planned for the Run for the Border Half Marathon to be my first Half Marathon race ever. Then I found the Half at the Hamptons a full month earlier. So I made that my first half marathon… with great success. As the Eastern States 20miler/Run for the Border Half Marathon approached, I realized that my husband and two of my friends had signed up for the 20 miler. Not being of sane mind at the time, I decided that I would run 7 miles longer than I had ever run before so I wouldn’t have to wait around at the finish line in the cold.

So a quick e-mail to the race director later, I was officially in the 20 mile race. A race that would normally start in Kittery Maine, travel along the entirety of New Hampshire’s coastal highway and end at the Massachusett’s border. This year’s race required a detour that had the race ending at Hampton, NH because we wouldn’t have been able to cross the bridge into Seabrook NH.

Race: Eastern States 20 miler
Date: March 27, 2010
Distance: 20 miles
Full results here.

I had had a pretty light training week because my poodle Cooper had just been neutered and I wanted to spend time with him. I was also feeling tired and I figured I could use a rest. I wasn’t feeling as excited and hyper as I was for the Half the Hamptons, but I was feeling determined. My husband had to drop out at the last minute for an Achilles injury. So I was going to have a photographer the whole way too.

My husband had run this race two years in a row, so I knew the course, a beautiful mostly flat run along New Hampshire’s scenic coast road. It’s a wonderful race for runners, it’s a wonderful race for spectators… if the weather cooperates. And the weather half cooperated. The sky was partially cloudy, it was relatively cool but not cold. But it was windy. And it was a wind from the South. Unfortunately the race course has us running straight South almost the entire way. And it’s coastal, so there isn’t much there to block the wind.

My first few miles were great. I loved running across the bridge from Maine into Portsmouth, NH. I loved running through Portsmouth NH. I was running along at a 9:30 minute/mile pace. And I was feeling great. But then we hit the wind. It was tough but OK at first. Around mile 6.5 I saw one of my college rowing teammates cheering for me. She usually lives in Florida and took time out of her family vacation to come stand by the ocean for me. It made me so happy and it made me feel so special. Laura, Tall Girl, if you ever read this blog, I can’t thank you enough.

Shortly after seeing Laura, the wind really started to get to me. My lower back started to kill me. Just like it used to in rowing. When I saw Adam taking pictures and he asked me how I was doing I had to let him know that my back was hurting (it was so windy he wouldn’t have been able to hear me).

I’m sure the wind had me modifying my position in a way that was aggravating my back. In turn I modified my stride to reduce my back pain. Soon my ankles were hurting too. But I was strong, I was determined, I kept running. But boy did I ever slow down.

By the 12.5 mile aid station I was slogging. Not because I was tired but because I was hurting. I still gave some kids cheering on the sidelines a high five. I kept putting one foot in front of the other. Reminding myself that every step I took was a new record for me. Of how proud I would feel when I crossed that finish line.

Around mile 16.5 I met Penny. Penny’s back was also hurting her because of the wind. Penny was my savior she gave me a Tylenol and an Ibuprofen (clearly she’s a very smart woman for carrying those around). And I was able to finish the last few miles when the wind was it’s worst yet. We finished the race together and I was so happy that she hung out with me and helped me get across that finish line. (Final time 3:30:51)

Adam and Larisa were waiting there. Larisa had finished her race at least forty minutes earlier (Read Larisa’s race report on her blog). She went really fast considering the wind and the fact she had done a tough hike the day before.

After grabbing some soup and pizza at the post race party I headed outside to wait for Sabrina’s finish. Sabrina went from barely running to running a 20 mile race in 9 weeks when she was given an entry to the Boston marathon through work. You don’t pass up an opportunity to run Boston. Her main goal, not to finish last. And she beat 10 people. We were very proud of her.



(And note the lovely view of the finish area behind the finish – it’s a burnt down area of Hampton Beach, NH)

When I got home, I looked up the weather. There were points in the race when the sustained wind was 22 mph with 28 mph gusts. I’m glad I didn’t know it was that bad while I was out there.

Today my back is feeling better, my ankle is still a little sore and the outsides of my feet kinda hurt. It felt amazing to have done the race, but it really didn’t seem that long when I look back on it. I actually gave myself a real day off today.

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